Foreclosure activity in Florida rose 7 percent during the first quarter of 2010, and was up 29 percent from the same period last year. In all, the state reported 153,540 properties with foreclosure filings during the quarter, making it the state with the second highest foreclosure total in the nation during the first quarter. One in every 57 Florida housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, the third highest state foreclosure rate in the nation.

During the month of March, the state reported 59,067 properties with foreclosure filings, a 9 percent increase from the previous month, and 25 percent above the level reported in March 2009. One in every 149 Florida housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month, the fourth highest state foreclosure.

“Florida foreclosures were up for the first quarter, the month of March and from the same time periods last year,” said James J. Saccacio chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The largest increase was in auctions, which rose 15 percent during the quarter. The state currently holds the fifth highest unemployment rate in the nation, and its home prices are still falling further than most states. These trends are definitely fueling the recent rise in foreclosures.”

California continued to lead the nation in total foreclosure activity, reporting 216,263 properties with foreclosure filings for the quarter. Arizona came in third, documenting 55,686 properties with foreclosure filings. Illinois ranked fourth, reporting 45,780 properties with foreclosure filings. Michigan was a close fifth, reporting 45,732 properties with foreclosure filings for the quarter.

The remaining states in the nation’s top 10 for total foreclosure activity for the first quarter were Georgia (39,911), Texas (37,354), Nevada (34,557), Ohio (33,221), and Colorado (16,023). In all, the top 10 accounted for 73 percent of all foreclosure filings in the nation for the quarter.

Osceola County posts top foreclosure rate for the first quarter

Osceola County posted the highest county foreclosure rate in the state during the first quarter, as one in every 32 housing units received a foreclosure filing — 4.3 times the national average and 1.8 times the state average. Lee County came in second, with one in every 35 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 3.9 times the national average and 1.6 times the state average. With one in every 38 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 3.7 times the national average and 1.5 times the state average — Broward County came in third highest.

Broward County led state in total foreclosures for the first quarter

Broward County tallied the most foreclosure filings of any county in the state for the quarter, documenting 21,308 properties with foreclosure filings. Miami-Dade County was second highest, reporting 19,918 properties with foreclosure filings. Reporting 10,998 properties with foreclosure filings for the quarter, Palm Beach County came in third. Orange County was fourth, reporting 10,685 properties with foreclosure filings. Fifth highest total was in Lee County, where 10,295 properties with foreclosure filings were reported for the quarter.

State a major contributor to the nation’s quarterly foreclosure total

Florida accounted for 16 percent of the 932,234 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide for the first quarter of 2010. Total U.S. activity grew by more than 7 percent from the previous quarter and was 16 percent ahead of the first quarter 2009. One in every 138 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter.

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the RealtyTrac database during the month — broken out by type of filing by state, county and metropolitan statistical area. Some foreclosure filings entered into the database during the month may have been recorded in previous months. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties nationwide, and those counties account for more than 90 percent of the U.S. population. RealtyTrac’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). If more than one foreclosure document is received for a property during the month, only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a previous month. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the report does not count the property in the current month.

For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, check out our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.